Pleasanton Weekly

Planning Commissioner Narum to seek Council seat

Campaign under way to fill position vacated when former Councilman Thorne was elected mayor

by Jeb Bing

Planning Commissioner Kathy Narum announced this week that she is a candidate in the May 7 special election to fill a vacant seat on the Pleasanton City Council.

The vacancy occurred when Councilman Jerry Thorne was elected mayor on Nov. 6. By municipal code, council vacancies must be filled in a special election, not appointed by others on the council as some other cities do and once was the practice here.

Recently, the council authorized that the election for the vacancy will be filled in a special election to be conducted by mail on May 7. Registered voters will be sent ballots, which must be nailed back to the Alameda County Registrar's office no later than May 7.

Narum, the first candidate to enter the May 7 council race, is in her fifth year on the Planning Commission. She has been active in civic events since moving to Pleasanton in 1996. Prior to her appointment to the Planning Commission, Narum served on the city's Parks and Recreation Commission for five years.

Narum is also a member of the city's East Pleasanton Specific Plan Task Force and is chairwoman of the city's Heritage Tree board of appeals.

Callippe Preserve Golf Course and the Val Vista Park were completed while she was on the Parks and Recreation Commission, and, as a Planning Commissioner, she joined in the approval process for the Hacienda Business Park transit oriented development and the completion of Pleasanton's Housing element. BRE is currently developing a high density apartment complex in Hacienda Business Park as a result of those initiatives.

Prior to her municipal government service, Narum was president of the Pleasanton Seahawks and active in the leadership of that championship swimming organization for 12 years. In addition, she served on Bernal park and recreational task forces and has served on the Rage girls' soccer team board of directors.

Narum's husband Jeff is an R&D Engineer at Thoratec in Pleasanton. Their daughter Jennifer is a graduate of Foothill High School and the University of Virginia, where she swam on the women's varsity swim team. Their daughter Lisa also graduated from Foothill and the Ohio State University at Columbus, where she too swam on the women's varsity swim team.

Narum said she is dedicated to maintaining a high quality of life in Pleasanton, in promoting fiscal sustainability for the city, and in drawing upon her years of grassroots community involvement to make a positive difference for Pleasanton as a City Council member.